


What Makes a Man

by daphnerunning



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-01-19
Updated: 2012-05-03
Packaged: 2017-10-29 19:38:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/323403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daphnerunning/pseuds/daphnerunning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Kotetsu and Yuri are the Hero team. Featuring Ouroboros!Barnaby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a prompt on the kink meme. Once again, I took the idea and freaking ran with it, because that's how I roll.

This is the story of a penny.

It fell out of a man’s pocket, rotated twice, three times, then landed with a faint brassy tinkle on the ground. The man heard, stopped, picked it up, then continued to his desk.

In another world, the penny didn’t fall. He arrived at his desk three seconds earlier, and his supervisor, looking over the rows of cubicles, didn’t immediately spot him. 

He didn’t see the man’s face and select him on a whim, call him into his office, and give him a promotion. 

The man didn’t pack up his family and move out of Sternbild. 

His daughter didn’t scream and rage and cry because it was the second half of her junior year, and wasn’t so upset that she didn’t call the boy she hoped would one day be her boyfriend.

In that other world, a young man was sitting in a café with the man’s daughter, trying to work up the courage to hold her hand. He never noticed the pale-haired boy sitting by himself. He went on to marry the girl, have a daughter, miss his wife’s death, and become part of a superhero team.

This is not the story of that world.

In this world, the penny dropped.


	2. Enter Stage Left

Kotetsu fidgeted. He stretched out his long legs, tapped a foot on the ground, crumbled up pieces of the muffin he’d ordered into fine powder. Still, Tomoe didn’t show. He checked his phone for the ninth time, sighing loudly. It was so unlike her. She could have at least called, if she was going to stand him up.

 _At least I’ll have something to tease her about tomorrow. Perfect Amamiya Tomoe, forgetting about a date. I’ll teach her to tease me about missing choir practice._

He toyed with the muffin for another few minutes, before realizing he really wasn’t hungry enough to eat. Idly, he wadded up the rest of it and chucked it at the garbage can. “He shoots,” he muttered to himself, then winced when he didn’t score. Instead, the bundle of crumbs and blueberries hit a kid square in the face.

“Shit,” Kotetsu muttered under his breath. He considered just running away, but compassion won out over embarrassment. “Hey, kid,” he said, standing awkwardly by the boy’s table. “Sorry about that. I was aiming for the trash.”

The boy shook his head. “It’s all right. Thank you for apologizing.” He picked crumbs out of his hair, throwing each one fastidiously in the garbage. He had strange hair, wavy and gray even though he couldn’t have been more than thirteen.

Then again, maybe he was older than he looked. Kotetsu cast a glance at the papers in front of the kid, then grinned. “You got Wickersham for Economics?”

“Yes.”

“You look a little young to be a sophomore.” Kotetsu couldn’t help himself, plopping down into the other chair at the little table. The door was still in sight, just in case Tomoe did show up.

“I am a little young to be a sophomore,” the boy responded. He spoke quietly, but the corner of his mouth twitched. Shy, then. Not angry. “I skipped a grade or two.”

Kotetsu had a feeling it was more like two or three, but didn’t say that out loud. He held out his hand. “Kaburagi Kotetsu.”

The boy took it. His hand was soft and cool, as if he’d been standing outside, or had bad circulation. “Yuri Petrov.”

Kotetsu grinned, then picked another piece of muffin out of Yuri’s hair. “Cute name. What characters do you use?”

“Huh?”

“When you spell Yuri.”

“I’m not Japanese.”

“But your name—“

“It’s a very popular name where my parents are from,” Yuri said, frowning a little. “The first man in space was named Yuri. It’s about as unusual as George.”

Kotetsu held up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. I just thought it was cute. I use the character for Tiger in my name.”

Yuri’s mouth twitched again. “It suits you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes.” Then, as if he’d accidentally said too much, he flushed a little and looked down at his schoolbooks.

“Maybe I could help you with that,” Kotetsu offered. “I mean, I got stood up, and I’ve taken Wickersham’s class before.”

Yuri smiled. “I got stood up too. I was supposed to be tutoring someone tonight. Sure, if you want. I could use a little help interpreting how group theory relates to enlightened self-interest.” 

Kotetsu grinned. That was the only part of the class he’d understood, though he didn’t want to admit that. He had a feeling Yuri was very, very smart. “Well…it’s like Heroes.”

Yuri blinked, startled. “It is?”

“Sure! Like, say you were a NEXT. Say for example you could make yourself really strong. Now, the best way to make money would be to rob a bank, right?”

“I…suppose, but that’s not—“

“Bear with me. So, there are like ten powerful Heroes, and let’s say Mr. Legend decides to rob a bank.”

“He wouldn’t!”

The shout rang through the café, making Kotetsu rock back in his chair. Several patrons stopped and stared, and Yuri ducked his head. “Sorry. I just don’t think Mr. Legend would ever do that.”

“You’re a Mr. Legend fan, too?” Kotetsu beamed. “He’s the best. Look, I’ve got all the new cards.” He fished the trading cards out of his backpack, arraying them in a collector’s semicircle.

“You’ve got three of him.”

“I have more at home. These aren’t all the same—this one’s holographic, this one’s embossed, and this one’s scratch and sniff.”

Yuri stared. “What does it smell like?”

Generously, Kotetsu tossed it over. “See for yourself. You can even have that one.”

Yuri scratched, then cautiously sniffed. He blinked rapidly. “It smells like burned rubber.” 

“Yeah, not really sure what they were going for. Anyway. So let’s say one of the other Heroes robbed a bank. And no one could catch him, because he’s powerful. In fact, all the Heroes could turn to a life of crime, and no one would be able to stop them. No one would get anything done, because they’d be too busy fighting off crime.”

“The city would fall apart.”

“Not only that, but there’d be nothing left for the Heroes to steal. Get it?” Kotetsu was inordinately proud of his analogy, and had been since he was a sophomore and used it in an essay. “Each Hero can do the best they can do personally by doing what’s best for everyone—that is, keeping crime low, and in return they get paid and they get merchandising deals and everything. So everyone does best when everyone does what’s best for themselves, and for everyone else.”

A slow smile spread across Yuri’s face. “I get it. Thank you.”

“Sure. Least I can do, after I hit you in the face with a muffin.”

Yuri looked at his watch, and his face fell. “I’ve got to go. I have curfew on school nights.”

“Your curfew is seven o’clock? That’s a little early.”

“My parents believe in early to bed, early to rise,” Yuri grumbled. “Besides, it’s eight. I just have a long walk.”

“Hey, I’ll give you a ride.”

“Weren’t you waiting for someone?”

 Kotetsu cast a glance over his shoulder. Tomoe’s chair remained stubbornly empty. “Nah. She must have reconsidered. It was only a first date. Not like anything would have come out of it.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

“You’d think you’d be ashamed about this.”

Kotetsu flicked a paper airplane at the wall of his bedroom, idly unconcerned. “Why should I be ashamed? You like schoolwork.”

“Don’t you want to do it yourself? Wouldn’t it give you pride?”

“It never did the last twelve years. Why should it start now?”

Yuri shook his head, scratching in another answer. “I’m only helping you because I think that your punishment was unfair.”

“Way of the world.”

“Yes, you shouldn’t have been fighting, and I agree with the vice principal on that count.”

“You would.”

“But the fact remains that the other boy attacked you, and you received the same punishment. That seems unjust.”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

Yuri narrowed his eyes. “I’m only helping. You’re still supposed to be demonstrating knowledge of the formula. It’s only because he hurt your arm that I’m writing it out for you.”

Kotetsu rolled his eyes. “You really need to lighten up, Yuri. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Yuri scowled, then reached into his bag, pulling out a neatly-wrapped gift. “You don’t really deserve this, you know.”

“What is it?”

“Your birthday present.”

Kotetsu sat bolt upright, confused. “How did you know it was my birthday?”

“I asked your mother.”

“Why?”

Yuri flushed. It was nice to see some color in those pale cheeks, Kotetsu reflected. “Because I had a present for you and I wanted to know when I should give it to you. You don’t need to make a big deal out of it.” He tossed the package, which Kotetsu caught.

The paper fell away, and Kotetsu’s jaw dropped. “What? How…how the….how did you…”

Yuri grinned, ducking his head as if shy to let Kotetsu see him smile. “Do you like it?”

“How did you get this? It’s not supposed to be on shelves for another six months!” He turned over the replica, perfect in every detail, down to the buttons on Mr. Legend’s costume. Even the smile was perfect, exactly the one he remembered from meeting the man.

“He’s your favorite Hero, right? My dad works in merchandising. He got me an advance test model, and…well, I knew you really liked him.”

Kotetsu sat the figure carefully on his desk, then promptly tackled Yuri in a hug.

“Wh—Kotetsu, get off me! You’re going to hurt your arm!” But he was laughing. 

“I’m not going to forget this,” Kotetsu said, hugging his friend harder. “When I’m a Hero, I’m gonna thank you for this somehow.”

“Y-you can thank me now by letting me breathe.”

Reluctantly, Kotetsu let the other boy go. Yuri was flushed and panting, but looked rather pleased with himself. “So, I gather that you like it.”

Kotetsu wasted no time in opening the box, running his hand over the detailed stitching. That was the really cool thing about this model; according to marketing, the tiny suits on every doll were made out of the same fabric as Mr. Legend’s actual costume. 

“You know, if you’d left it in the box, it would have been worth a fortune someday.”

Kotetsu laughed. “It’s worth more than that to me now.”

“You’re silly.” 

“You’re awesome.” 

Yuri swallowed, then looked down at Kotetsu’s homework. “You’ll make it up to me someday.”

_Yeah. I will._


	4. Chapter 4

Yuri was fourteen the first time he showed up at Kotetsu’s place in the middle of the night. Mr . Kaburagi answered the door, took one look at him, and ushered him inside. “Muramasa, go get your brother. Honey, do you want something to drink? Tea, maybe?”

Yuri nodded silently, and let himself be steered into the kitchen. He hadn’t taken a single sip before he heard Kotetsu crash down the stairs, clumsier than usual in his haste. “Yuri? What are you doing here? It’s almost midnight. You…” He wrinkled his nose. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you drunk?”

“No.”

“Okay, I didn’t think so, but you kind of stink of booze.”

Yuri stared down at his teacup. “Can I stay here tonight?”

“Why?” Kotetsu asked, at the same time his mother said, “Of course you can, dear. You can stay on the couch, or I can make up a camp bed in Kotetsu’s room.”

“My room, please, Mom.” Kotetsu steered Yuri up to his room, sitting him down on the bed. Gentle, he asked, “Are your parents fighting?”

Yuri nodded. He could still see the scene in front of him: his father, the man who was supposed to be justice itself, smashing a bottle of whiskey on the wall. His mother, afraid of her husband. Yuri had tried to clean it up, but his father wouldn’t stop _yelling_ …

“Hey, you’re bleeding.”

Yuri looked down at his hand. “I…I picked up some broken glass…”

Kotetsu picked out the glass, then carefully bandaged his hand. “I used to get torn up a lot, when I first got my powers,” he said, keeping the tone conversational. It was soothing, listening to him talk. “I’d get myself in all sorts of scrapes, because I kept forgetting when my power was going to run out. I’d wind up halfway up a cliff, or lifting way more than I normally can. I got pretty good at fixing myself up. Do your parents know you’re here?”

“I left a note. I told them I was at your house, and left your phone number. I don’t think they’ll call, though.”

He wasn’t sure whether he wanted them to call, or not. 

Kotetsu finished bandaging his hand, but kept holding it. “Do you swear to me you picked up broken glass?”

“Huh?”

“Swear it.” His eyes were intense, and for the first time Yuri could truly see Kotetsu becoming a Hero someday.

“Yes. I swear. I picked up broken glass.”

Kotetsu studied him for a minute, then nodded. “Okay. Don’t do it again. You could hurt yourself.”

“I wasn’t—“

“If they start fighting again, come right over. Promise?”

Yuri wanted to protest that they weren’t _fighting_ , Mama wasn’t doing any _fighting_. He knew Kotetsu, though. If he told him what was really happening, he’d probably go over and try to stop it.

Yuri had no idea what his Papa would do.

He missed being sure about what his Papa would do.

The next day, when he saw a faint bruise on his mother’s face, Yuri felt sick with shame. He’d run away. He hadn’t helped her.

His father was all smiles and apologies, and there were fresh roses on the kitchen table. His mother set a plate in front of him for breakfast, and Yuri realized that neither of them had noticed he wasn’t there all night.

 _It’s because I’m not a NEXT,_ he told himself, pushing eggs around his plate without eating them. _Papa just…he needs someone to stop him for just a second. Someone to remind him he’s a Hero when he gets like that. If I were a NEXT, I’d be able to face him._


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long absence, I took a job and moved to another continent. Updates should be more regular now!

“Kotetsu?”

 

 

“Hmm?”

 

 

“Why aren’t you a Hero?”

 

 

Kotetsu frowned, then crumpled up a wad of paper and threw it at him. “Why would you ask that?”

 

 

Yuri shrugged. “You want to be a Hero. You’ve got power. You’ve even got your name picked out. What are you waiting for?”

 

 

Kotetsu scratched his head, then flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. “I don’t know. You can’t just start Hero-ing. You have to have sponsors and stuff.”

 

 

“Why haven’t you gone looking for sponsors then?”

 

 

“Is that how it works? I thought they just sort of….found you. You know. Like maybe I’ll see a mom with a baby under a car, and lift it off, and get in the papers.”

 

 

“That’s not really how it works anymore.” Yuri blinked drowsily, trying to stay focused on the conversation. It was difficult when Kotetsu’s sleepy voice was so soothing, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Now there’s enough NEXT that they have to compete. Not everyone can be discovered. You’ve got to go looking for sponsors.”

 

 

“Seems fake.”

 

 

“It is. It’s all corporations and bottom lines these days.”

 

 

Kotetsu propped himself up on one hand, frowning at Yuri. “When did you get so cynical? Mr. Legend isn’t like that.”

 

 

At the face Yuri made, Kotetsu cocked his head. “What’s wrong? What did I say?”

 

 

“Nothing. Drop it.”

 

 

“Yuri—“

 

 

“I said drop it!”

 

 

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong!” Kotetsu grabbed Yuri’s arm, yanked him upright in his camp bed. “Stop dodging my questions!”

 

 

“Let go of me!”

 

 

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong!”

 

 

“You wouldn’t believe me if I did!”

 

 

Kotetsu let go of his arm, hurt. “I’ve never not believed you about something. You’re the most honest person I know.”

 

 

“No, I’m not.” Yuri’s voice was bitter, and he brought his knees up under his chin. “I’ve been lying to you.”

 

 

“I knew it.” Kotetsu threw back his covers, went rummaging for jeans and a shirt to put on over his boxers. “He’s hitting you too, isn’t he? You told me he wasn’t, but—“

 

 

“What are you—“

 

 

“I’m going to go teach him a lesson! Man, I’ve been trying not to get involved because you always look so sad, and I wouldn’t want anyone butting into my business, but…no one’s gonna hurt you, okay?”

 

 

“Kotetsu, stop.”

 

 

“Why?” Kotetsu yanked on his sneakers, not bothering to unlace and retie them from when he’d kicked them off earlier. “Tell me he’s not hitting you.”

 

 

“He’s not.”

 

 

“Tell me he’s not hitting your mom.”

 

 

“….he….”

 

 

“Yeah. Well.”

 

 

“Wait!” Yuri grabbed for his hand, held him fast before Kotetsu could leave.

 

 

Kotetsu shook him off. “You wanted me to be a Hero, right? Isn’t this the kind of thing a Hero should stop?”

 

 

“But he’ll kill you!”

 

 

“I’m a NEXT, remember? What is he going to—“

 

 

“So is he.”

 

 

Kotetsu stopped in his tracks. Yuri was crying silently, tears running down his face, but his eyes were open and afraid. It made sense, he supposed. Yuri had never wanted him to meet his parents, but Kotetsu thought he was just private like that. “You said you were lying to me.”

 

 

Yuri nodded, miserable.

 

 

“Your dad doesn’t work in merchandising, does he?”

 

 

A shake of the head.

 

 

Kotetsu took a deep breath. “Okay. It’s okay.”

 

 

“It…it is?”

 

 

“Yeah. Not your fault your dad’s a criminal. Hey, if I’m lucky, I could get myself an arch-nemesis!”

 

 

When that failed to get even the tiniest smile, Kotetsu’s face fell. He’d been hoping, hoping so hard, but from the way Yuri was crumpling in on himself…

 

 

Kotetsu sat down next to him, putting an arm around the boy. “He’s not a villain, is he?”

 

 

“No.”

 

 

“Do I want to know who he is?”

 

 

Yuri shook his head so hard his hair hit Kotetsu in the face. “I can’t tell. All my life, I’ve never broken my promise. Please, please, don’t ask.”

 

 

Kotetsu didn’t ask.

 

 

And the next time Yuri came to visit, he didn’t ask why the figure of Mr. Legend was missing from Kotetsu’s desk, or why a tiny blue cape was hanging out of the garbage can.

 


	6. Chapter 6

The phone rang.

 

And rang.

 

And rang.

 

Yuri clutched the receiver with a shaking hand, knuckling his other hand into his thigh, trying to focus only on the pain.

 

On the eighth ring, Kotetsu picked up. “Hello?”

 

“It’s me.”

 

“Yuri!” Any other day, Yuri would have felt his heart skip at the pleasure in Kotetsu’s voice. Now, it just ached like the rest of him.

 

“Kotetsu…I need help. Please. Help me.”

 

“I’ll be right there.”

 

“I—“ Yuri started to say, but he heard the beep as Kotetsu hung up. He sank down to his knees, the pain making him see black and red spots in front of his vision.

 

He didn’t remember passing out, but he must have, because Kotetsu was shaking him gently awake. “Yuri,” he was saying, still glowing blue. “Yuri, wake up.”

 

“I…how long…”

 

Kotetsu was trying to give him an encouraging smile, but his face was worried. “I got here as fast as I could. I think I still have two or three minutes left. God, what happened to your face?”

 

It was a small thing, taken along with everything else that had happened. “Not important. My—my father—Kotetsu, he—I tried to stop him.” He felt the tears dripping hot and salty down his burned flesh, and the pain made his vision waver again. He tried to breathe, but everything was gray and black and red. “I tried to stop him,” he repeated. “Like a Hero. Like you would have.”

 

Guilt flashed across Kotetsu’s face. “Where is he, Yuri?”

 

“I…”

 

“Tell me. I promise, he won’t hurt you, ever again, Hero or no.” His voice was strong and commanding.

 

_He’s going to hate me. Once he knows what I did…_

_But I need his help._

 

“In….in the garage,” Yuri choked out. “I didn’t—I didn’t mean to! You have to believe me, I didn’t mean to!”

 

He watched Kotetsu go, curled in on himself.

 

He heard a crash from the garage, and a choked-off cry.

 

He could still hear his mother’s weeping, even after he got her to his room.

 

The picture of his father on the wall stared down at him, judging, ready to punish.

 

Then Kotetsu was back, pulling him to his feet. He grabbed Yuri’s face in his hands, avoiding the places where the skin was burned. “How? How did you do it?”

 

“I…I don’t know, I just—I grabbed him, and there was this fire, and…and Kotetsu, he grabbed my face and it hurt so much and he _laughed_ and I…I was so angry…I…” He was hiccupping now, breath coming too fast, and knew he sounded hysterical. “It came out of my eyes!”

 

The doorbell rang.

 

Yuri froze, even stopped breathing. Kotetsu looked at the door, then back to him. “Who?”

 

Yuri started to say he didn’t know, then remembered. “Oh no, it’s Mr. Maverick, Papa’s boss.” He clutched at Kotetsu’s shirt, desperate. “What do I say? Help, please, I don’t know what to do.”

 

Kotetsu licked his lips. “Think of something.”

 

“But—“

 

“Think of a story, right now. I’ll back you up, but you’re the smart one, so think!”

 

The doorbell rang again. Yuri’s mind raced, but something caught, and he nodded. “O-okay. There was a NEXT, a villain, who found out Papa’s secret identity and took over his body. We stopped him.”

 

Kotetsu sighed out a breath. “Okay. Just hold it together for a little while. It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

 

He engulfed Yuri in a quick hug, and Yuri didn’t even care that his face was throbbing. It was going to be all right. Kotetsu was going to make it all right.

 

That thought buoyed him when Mr. Maverick came in. He was able to keep it together long enough to tell him yes, his father had been possessed by a rogue NEXT. He even threw out the name of a body-snatching NEXT his father had fought years earlier. Of course, Yuri had been very fortunate that his powers activated right then. This young man? He had just been passing by, but was able to stop the NEXT from escaping.

 

He was honestly surprised at how well Kotetsu lied. For some reason, Yuri had made the mistake of assuming that just because Kotetsu was an honest person, he’d be a bad liar. Apparently he was wrong. He filed that information away, with the part of his mind that wasn’t trying to control his emotions in front of Mr. Maverick.

 

Finally, his Papa’s boss smiled. It was a cold, calculating smile, Yuri noted, and a little chill went up his spine. “You boys were very brave, to face him like that. I think we should all have a talk about what to do about this.”

 

Yuri thrust out his chin. “I understand. You’ll have to have the situation fully investigated by the police.”

 

“Hmm? No, that wasn’t what I was thinking. We’ll have Marketing tweak a few details, of course, but the public is going to be thrilled. That is…if you two are willing.”

 

“Willing?” Kotetsu asked, confused.

 

“To fill his shoes.” Maverick’s eyes narrowed behind his spectacles. “If you’re telling the truth, you already have a head start on fighting crime. You’ll be the boys who saved the city from Mr. Legend’s evil twin. Something like that. Unless…you don’t want to be Heroes?”

 

 Yuri wasn’t sure anymore. It had never been possible, not without powers. Now he had powers, and they had killed his father. How could he work for Hero TV, the same corporation that had driven his father to become what he had become?

 

 Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kotetsu, almost quivering with excitement, hope in his eyes. _It’s his dream_ , he thought suddenly. _I can’t take his dream. He just saved me, from prison or death or insanity._

 

And oh _god_ did he want to make Kotetsu happy.

 

“Of course,” he said softly. “It’s all we’ve ever wanted.” 

 

Maverick smiled.

 


End file.
